South Korea will deploy maritime patrol aircraft and an explosive ordnance disposal team to waters near the Strait of Hormuz as part of a mission to protect commercial shipping and help keep the vital waterway open, the defence ministry said Thursday.
The deployment will expand the operational area of the country’s Cheonghae anti-piracy naval unit, which currently operates in the Gulf of Aden off Somalia.
The mission will include a destroyer, a P-8 maritime patrol aircraft, an explosive ordnance disposal team, unmanned surface and underwater vessels, and remotely operated vehicles.
A defence ministry official said the mission would be strictly non-combat, aimed at protecting South Korean citizens and economic interests. The unit would operate independently of allied forces.
Operations will be restricted to international waters south of Oman, with patrol aircraft barred from monitoring Iranian territory or territorial waters, the official said.
The expansion of the Cheonghae unit’s mission, currently authorised until the end of the year, will require parliamentary approval.
The move comes amid disruptions to shipping through the Strait of Hormuz following the US-Iran war that began on February 28. The strategic chokepoint normally handles around one-fifth of global oil supplies.
South Korea has maintained that it will not deploy troops in a manner that could lead to military intervention in the conflict.
Iran has warned Seoul against participating in efforts to secure the waterway.
